A fairy tale world

Consider what a fairy tale world we live in. A world in which so many folks pretend.

Politicians pretend to hate big companies and the rich. Yet they beg millions of campaign donations from them.

Our Attorney General pretends there is no voter fraud. Yet Montana has uncovered a mountain of irregularities. Florida found 53,000 dead voters on its rolls. Chicago? How many votes do you need? The AG pretends that asking voters for photo ID is unreasonable and racist. Yet photo IDs are required for any number of simple activities.

People pretend our teachers’ unions are only interested in quality education for kids. Yet they spend millions to stop charters, vouchers, private schools, home-schooling. All of which have proven effective. And those unions have made it virtually impossible for schools to fire tenured perverts and incompetents.

Not all, but many who fight against oil and gas development are pretending. They pretend they only want to protect the environment. In reality they oppose capitalism and free markets. (Hey, that is their right. So is my protest of their pretending.)

Many who fight to protect the snail darters also pretend. They know the darters are not going to perish. The truth is they just don’t want the dam. Or the new highway. Or the irrigation system. Because it benefits business owners in some way.

Politicians pretend they poured many billions into GM only to save the U.S. auto industry. C’mon. GM could have gone through a normal bankruptcy. Like thousands of companies have. Ah, but that would have hurt the unions. And some of their ridiculous work rules and benefits. The real reason government bailed out GM was to protect unions. While stiffing legitimate bondholders.

Politicians pretend the billions they pour into countless job training programs are not wasted. Government’s own studies say they are.

Politicians and trial lawyers pretend our lawsuit industry does not add thousands to your cost of living. Put caps on damages. Limit class-action lawsuits. You will see insurance costs fall dramatically. On every product and service you buy. Remember, companies don’t pay for liability insurance. You do, in the prices you pay for the products and services covered.

Politicians pretend our tax system is not an abomination. That it is not an insult to our citizens.

So many pretend that if we attack the rich with more taxes we will solve our ballooning deficit. Pure rubbish.

People pretend that government makes things easier for small business. While it piles on more taxes, more paperwork, more regulations. By the ton.

People pretend the U.S. has only 2 or 3 percent of the world’s oil and gas. That we use far more than our “fair share.” The truth is we possess maybe 25 percent of the earth’s oil and gas. And maybe more.

Politicians pretend the Postal Service will recover. And Amtrak will make money.

Big media pretends our unemployment rate has fallen to 8 point something. They know the fall has come only because millions have deserted the work force.

So many folks pretend that fat contributions won’t buy you influence. From the White House on down. They pretend that Obamacare will save us money.

Politicians pretend they can and will cut government waste.

And…who caused our housing crash? Altogether now: the greedy mortgage lenders. That is a smokescreen. You could choke on the evidence of the truth. Which is that politicians caused it. Politicians bribed by corrupt executives at Fannie and Freddie. Politicians who wrote laws that forced banks to give more and more mortgages to people who did not deserve them.

Those under Soviet communism had a saying: We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.

Well, there is a whole lot of pretending going in this country too. Let’s call it E. Pluribus Fairy-Tale Land. I cannot put that into Latin. Because I pretended to study when I took it. Or it took me.